[For the
information of our readers, we are posting the following article from the
November 5 issue of the Minneapolis Star Tribune by Mary Jane Smetanka
(with some subheads changed).

[In the near
future we hope to post an assessment by our correspondents in the Twin Cities on
the gains this strike brought for workers at the University of Minnesota. The
quotations from Phyllis Walker and Gladys McKenzie in the article below give a
preliminary idea of some of the significant achievements made by AFSCME Locals
3800 and 3801 in this strike.

[Note especially
this statement: “We have won
concrete gains for our workers and we have won respect from everyone on campus,”
said a buoyant Phyllis Walker, president of Local 3800. “Clerical workers
were the ones who were willing to stand up and fight.”

[The union’s chief
negotiator, Gladys McKenzie, is quoted as follows:
“We knew from the beginning of the strike that, because of economic
conditions, some people would be coming to work,” she said. “This is an
institution that has undermined the economic well-being of staff, and from day
one that [consideration] was built into our strike. It was an act of courage for
people to walk out in the hundreds in spite of that.”]

The University of
Minnesota’s first strike in almost 60 years ended Tuesday when unionized
clerical workers reached tentative agreement on a contract after a two-week
walkout.

The deal was
reached after almost 30 hours of through-the-night negotiations on both Sunday
and Monday that ended at about 7 a.m. Tuesday. Tired but elated union officials
claimed victory, but declined to release details of the settlement before the
1,900 workers represented by Locals 3800 and 3801 of the American Federation of
State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) could see specifics themselves.

“We have won
concrete gains for our workers and we have won respect from everyone on campus,”
said a buoyant Phyllis Walker, president of Local 3800. “Clerical workers were
the ones who were willing to stand up and fight.”

University
officials said they were delighted the strike was over and said that in general,
the agreement mirrors that offered to other employees.

Other union
contracts at the school include a one-year wage freeze, a pay increase of 2.5
percent in the second year and bigger employee contributions toward health care
costs [though not as big as the university administration had originally
demanded].

University
President Robert Bruininks called the strike “a very difficult event” in the
school’s history and said he was glad it was over.

“I believe this is
a great result for the University of Minnesota,” he said. “It’s great to have
our valued employees back at work. We need them.”

He said the
university “did not put any substantial new money on the table to get this
agreement. The agreement was achieved by both parties working creatively within
existing guidelines and the existing resources we have available to us.”

Clerical workers,
whose duties include accounting, web page design, managing research grants,
answering phones, and many other jobs, will be back at work today. They are
expected to vote on the 2003-05 contract in the next two to three weeks.

Strike Lasted 15
Days

After taking a
$185 million cut in 2004-05 funding at this year’s Legislature, the university
had asked all employees to pay more for health care and to take a wage freeze
for a year. While those issues were central to the dispute, the union also
objected to language in the proposed contract that affected recall of laid-off
employees, changes to vacations, and other employment conditions.

Bruininks
indicated that the university had compromised on some of that language and that
pay ranges in certain jobs were adjusted. But he added that the settlement “was
within the financial guidelines we had set for all employee groups.”

Getting Back to
Work

Relief at the
settlement was evident on both sides. At strike headquarters, Walker’s eyes
filled with tears as dozens of union members packed a room, spilled out into the
hallway and down the stairs and chanted, “Union, union.”

“You know I never
cry,” she said as union members cheered.

Though many
workers represented by the union had crossed picket lines—an estimated 65
percent were coming to work as of late last week—Bruininks admitted the strike
stressed the university. While the school hasn’t calculated the strike’s cost,
he said, “It certainly cost me a little sleep, and it certainly cost a whole lot
of people more than sleep. You’re spending enormous amounts of energy keeping
things going and to keep the quality of service as high as you possibly can,
[but] you’re not working on other initiatives.”

More than 100
faculty members had moved some of their classes off campus at least temporarily,
using bookstores, movie theaters, [union halls,] and churches as impromptu
classrooms. Last week, a small but determined group of students staged a sit-in
at Morrill Hall [at the main campus in Minneapolis] to demand that the
administration meet the union’s demands. [On Monday, November 4, students were
sitting in at the St. Paul and Duluth campuses as well.]

Walker and other
union officials said they thought student pressure helped bring the university
back to the table, but Bruininks said the two sides were already in contact
through state mediators last week.

Union Knew Some
Members Could NotJoin the Strike

Union chief
negotiator Gladys McKenzie indicated that there wouldn’t be lingering resentment
between strikers and those who crossed the picket line.

“We knew from the
beginning of the strike that because of economic conditions, some people would
be coming to work,” she said. “This is an institution that has undermined the
economic well-being of staff, and from day one that [consideration] was built
into our strike. It was an act of courage for people to walk out in the hundreds
in spite of that.”

Bruininks said he
believes any wounds will heal.

“The university
has deep respect for the members of this union and the work they do,” he said.
“I have every confidence that we’ll come back together as an academic
community.”

Union member Janet
Campbell, who works mainly in accounting at the school’s Cancer Center, said she
felt empowered by the strike.

“I feel good; I
feel strong,” she said. “It was tough yesterday on the picket line; we were
tired and cold. But I was there every day and it felt good to do it.”

She said she went
on strike not only for herself but for the future well-being of her family. “It
wasn’t whether you could afford to go out; it was whether you could afford not
to,” Campbell said. “We got a decent victory.”

Nancy Wiswell has
worked at the university for 34 years. Now a principal secretary in the School
of Music, she said the strike was “a respect issue.” She said she was boosted by
the support the students she works with gave her on the picket line, when many
stopped to give her a hug.

“We were wet and
cold, but the support has been great,” Wiswell said. “I got to know so many
people outside of my department. It will never be the same.”

Early Tuesday, the
university also reached tentative settlement with an AFSCME unit that represents
about 170 health care workers. That means that all organized workers at the
university have reached at least tentative contract settlements.